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Police raid home of DeKalb Co. CEO Burrell Ellis

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) — Authorities raided the home of DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis while he was testifying before a grand jury investigating county watershed operations.

WSB-TV reports (http://bit.ly/Woxpim ) unmarked police cars were parked outside Ellis' house while he was in court Monday morning. The television station reports that a grand jury is looking into allegations involving county watershed employees who were accused of accepting bribes from companies in exchange for waste disposal permits.

The television station reports officers emerged from Ellis' house three hours after they entered it carrying boxes of documents and one home computer. The officers declined to say what they found or why they were removing it from the house.

Later, authorities asked for Ellis' American Express card records at the county finance department, and asked for his campaign finance disclosure records at the elections office.

In the county's purchasing department, investigators asked for contracts for companies represented by Kevin Ross, Ellis' close friend and campaign manager. The television station reports Ross at one point in time suggested Ellis cancel contracts belonging to competitors and Ellis said he was never influenced by the suggestion.

Ellis said he is unsure why authorities chose to raid his house while he was in in court and he is unsure of what they may have been looking for.